202 
BREAD-FRUIT TREE. 
gently pulling out the stalk, and the rest of the 
fruit is thrown into a hole which is dug for that 
purpose, generally in the houses, and neatly lined 
on the bottom and sides with grass : the whole is 
then covered with leaves, and heavy stones laid 
upon them ; in this state it undergoes a second fer- 
mentation, and becomes sour, after which it will 
suffer no change for many months. It is taken out 
of the hole as it is wanted for use ; and being made 
into balls it is wrapped up in leaves and baked : 
after it is dressed, it w ill keep five or six weeks. It 
is eaten both cold and hot ; and the natives seldom 
make a meal without it, though to Europeans it is 
full as disagreeable as a pickled olive when first 
tasted. The fruit itself is in season eight months in 
the year, and the mahie supplies the inhabitants 
during the other four. 
This food is readily procured by the inhabitants 
of the islands where it abounds; the soil is naturally 
calculated to promote its growth, and all the trouble 
of gathering the bread consists in climbing the tree. 
